Tana French (born 10 May 1973) is an American-Irish writer and theatrical actress. She is a longtime resident of Dublin, Ireland.  Her debut novel In the Woods (2007), a psychological mystery, won the Edgar, Anthony, Macavity, and Barry awards for best first novel.  The Independent has referred to her as "the First Lady of Irish Crime".  Tana Elizabeth French was born in Burlington, Vermont, to Elena Hvostoff-Lombardi and David French.  Her father was an economist who worked on resource management for the developing world, and she lived in numerous countries as a child including Ireland, Italy, the United States and Malawi.  French attended Trinity College Dublin, and trained in acting. She settled in Ireland and has lived in Dublin since 1990.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tana_French 

Martha Jane’s Sauerkraut and Spare Rib Casserole  Yield:  4 servings  Total Time: Roughly 4 hours  Serve with pumpernickel bread and butter.  Source:  Martha Jane and Patrick Lahey, adapted by Maddie Coppel  Find recipe and instructions at https://www.toledoblade.com/a-e/food/2024/05/12/motherly-love-local-chefs-share-dishes-from-their-mom-s-kitchen/stories/20240512004  

The depths of the river Thames in London hold many unexpected stories, gleaned from the recovery of prehistoric tools, Roman pottery, medieval jewelry, and much more besides.  Yet the tale of the lost (and since recovered) Doves typeface is surely one of the most peculiar.  A little over a century ago, the printer T.J. Cobden-Sanderson took it upon himself to surreptitiously dump every piece of this carefully honed metal letterpress type into the river.  It was an act of retribution against his business partner, Emery Walker, whom he believed was attempting to swindle him.  With its extra-wide capital letters, diamond shaped punctuation and unique off-kilter dots on the letter “i,” Doves Type became the press’s hallmark, surpassing fussier typographic attempts by their friend and sometime collaborator, William Morris.  The letterforms only existed as a unique 16pt edition, meaning that when Cobden-Sanderson decided to “bequeath” every single piece of molded lead to the Thames, he effectively destroyed any prospect of the typeface ever being printed again.  That might well have been the case, were it not for several individuals and a particularly tenacious graphic designer.  Robert Green first became fascinated with Doves Type in the mid-2000s, scouring printed editions and online facsimiles, to try and faithfully redraw and digitize every line.  In October 2014, he decided to take to the river to see if he could find any of the original pieces.  Using historical accounts and Cobden-Sanderson’s diaries, he pinpointed the exact spot where the printer had offloaded his wares, from a shadowy spot on Hammersmith bridge. “I’d only been down there 20 minutes and I found three pieces,” he said.  “So, I got in touch with the Port of London Authority and they came down to search in a meticulous spiral.”  The team of scuba divers used the rather low-tech tools of a bucket and a sieve to sift through the riverbed.  Green managed to recover a total of 151 sorts (the name for individual pieces of type) out of a possible 500,000.  “It’s a tiny fraction, but when I was down by the river on my own, for one second it all felt very cosmic,” he said.  “It was like Cobden-Sanderson had dropped the type from the bridge and straight into my hands.  Time just collapsed.”  The finds have enabled him to further develop his digitized version and has also connected him with official mudlarks (people who search riverbanks for lost treasures, with special permits issued) who have uncovered even more of the type.  Jason Sandy, an architect, author and member of the Society of Thames Mudlarks, found 12 pieces, which he has donated to Emery Walker’s House at 7 Hammersmith Terrace.  This private museum was once home to both business partners, and retains its stunning domestic Arts and Crafts interior.  See pictures at https://news.artnet.com/art-world/doves-typeface-2454807   Thank you, Muse reader! 

The scup (Stenotomus chrysops) is a fish that occurs primarily in the Atlantic from Massachusetts to South Carolina.  Along with many other fish of the family Sparidae, it is also commonly known as porgy.  Scup grow as large as 18 in (460 mm) and weigh 3–4 lb (1.4–1.8 kg), but they average 0.5–1.0 lb (0.23–0.45 kg).  Scup can live up to 20 years; females can begin to reproduce at the age of two.  Every year female scups lay approximately 7,000 eggs in sand and weed abundant areas.  In the Middle Atlantic Bight, scup spawn along the inner continental shelf.  Their larvae end up in inshore waters, along the coast and in estuarine areas.  At two to three years of age, they mature.  Scup winter along the mid and outer continental shelf.  When the temperature warms in the spring, they migrate inshore.  They are fished for by both commercial and recreational fishermen.  The scup fishery is one of the oldest in the United States, with records dating back to 1800.  Scup was the most abundant fish in colonial times.  Fishermen began using trawls in 1929, which increased catches dramatically.  The species was termed overfished in 1996, and today there is evidence of a rebound. Today, scup are still caught primarily using an otter trawl.  The flesh is "firm and flaky", with a "sweet almost shrimplike flavor".  Many consumers like their light flavor and they are characterized as panfish.  Popular methods of cooking include frying, broiling, and baking.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scup  

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2815  May 17, 2024